Hi, my name is Al Gohary and I’m a business consultant with the Small Business Development Center. I’m also a QuickBooks Pro-Advisor, certified in all QuickBooks Products. Most people ask me, “Why do I need to use accounting software to run my business?” and I always say there are 3 main reasons:

1. Organizing your Business: Organizing all of your information in one spot. What customers are you selling to? What vendors are you buying from? What items are selling better and how much you’re buying those items for? What does it cost you to produce that product/service for your clients or customers. Having all of the information in one spot and looking at money coming in and money going out of your business helps you to make better business decisions. You may look at the reports and say, “well I can grow my business doing this, or I should continue doing what I’m doing right now or maybe I should change what I’m doing” by looking at those financial statements (profit or loss, balance sheets and cash flow statements).
2. Filing your taxes: Also, accounting software like QuickBooks is essential to grow your business when it comes to filing your taxes. At the end of the year, because you’ve been plugging in your numbers into QuickBooks all year, now it’s really easy to print your financials and go to your tax preparer to file your taxes with no extensions. Taxes are less of a headache and filed on time because all the information is available in QuickBooks.
3. Funding: Now you’re growing your business and you need to buy inventory, or maybe you just simply need working capital. So, you go to your lender and tell them, “I need funding”. And the first thing they ask you is, “Do you have your financial statements?” And you say “Yes, I have QuickBooks”. With the click of a button you can print your profit or loss, balance sheets and cash flow statements. Having these statements ready, along with your tax returns, will greatly reduce the time it takes for the bank to decide if you can get funding or you should wait or you can’t.

So, if you need help using QuickBooks to grow your business come see me at the Inland Empire SBDC (www.iesmallbusiness.com) – How to install it, how to configure it, how to run reports, and for QuickBooks training from A-Z. Also, visit our website for more resources and upcoming trainings. We look forward to helping you start or grow your business!

Hands-On Beginner’s Guide to QuickBooks Wokshop Participants
CSUF Students participated in this co-curricular activity
Location: Steven G. Mihaylo College of Business & Economics
Cal State Fullerton